Improvement in apparatus for distilling off gases, and vapors



.ha t- UNITED STATES `PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN HOlVAR-TH, SALEM,A MASSACHUSETTS.

Specilication forming part or" Letters Patent No. 4 2,772. dated May 17, 1864.

.To all whom it may/ concern:

Be it known that I, J oHN HowAnTH, of Salem, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements ,in Apparatus for Making Gases, 83e. and I do hereby declare that the following description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, hereinafter referred to,forms a full and exact specification of the same,jwherein I have set forth the nature and principles of my said improvements whereby my invention may be distin` guished from all others of a similar class, together with such parts as Iclaim and desire to have securedt-o 1ne by vLetters Patent.

When coals, shales, woods, &c., are placed within retorts that are heated only externally to a temperature necessary to expel the ,volatile products from-these substances,vdry de Y of these iiues and the direction in which the structive distillation takes place and the said volatile products are changed and their quality is impaired. This process is, in fact, a baking or roasting one.

The present invention relates to a process of distilling coals and other carbonaceous materials in which both internal and external heat are applied tothe retorts, the internal heat being furnished by passing 'superheated steam through the material to be acted upon,

and the external heat by a suitable arrange` ment of fines, combustion-chamber, &c.

I have practically demonstrated after many experiments that the best results are obtained by causing the superheated steam to perform the actual work of extracting the volatile yproducts from coal, wood, &c and keeping the temperature of the external heat only sufciently high to prevent radiation, by this means avoiding the evils of Adestructive distillation and producing products in larger quantities of much greater commercial value than by any process heretofore used.

The object of the presentiuvention is to so construct an apparatus for the production of oils, gases, &c., from carbonaceous materials as to cause thc 'internal heatafforded by the superheated steam always to exceed in temperaturel that ofI-leexternal heat, and in such a manner that the process in this respect shall be a self-regulating one, so that dry destructive distillation cannot possibly take place. I have also constructed a new form of an upure l is alongitudinal vertical section. Fig. 2

is a transverse vertical section; Fig. 3, ahorizontal section; Fig. 4, a plan or top view; and Fig. 5, a detail View of superheaters, showlng the mode of construction.

c c in the accompanying drawings represent a brick furnace; b b, iire-pot; c c, grate; d 1 1', two superheaters, the peculiarity ofwhich 1n their construction and arrangement will be hereinafter explained, placed side by side and resting on the re-tile-loor e, covering the ues V through which the heat,l smoke, and other products of combustion from the rechamber pass on their way to the outlet-liuc leadingto-thechi-mneyt -Thear rangement heat, smoke, Sto., pass are as follows, reference being had to arrows in the drawings,l viz: g g y g are openings in side walls of fire-pot b; h IL', two central ues extending from re-chamber the entire length of the furnace, into'which the said `openings g g g g open 2'. i,two outside iues connecting with ues hh at the rear end thereofl and extending the entire length of the furnace to the front wall thereof, where apertures j j connectthesame with the chamber k, above thesuperheaters, the outlet from which is at f, as before stated. The products of combustion, &c., passing from the irechamber, first enter the central fines, then the outside lues, and finally the chamber k, where they diffuse themselves and then pass out into the descending 1ue.

To the superheater cl steam is admitted at I, and,pass'ing into and through its various compartments m=m m, &c., then enters at n the other superheater, d', from whence, after havI ing passed entirely through the same, as in d, is conducted through the pipe`o to the vertical retorts-p and q, placed over and resting uponthe rear superheater, d', in the chamber k. I-n the case of the retort p, the steam coming from the superheaters, as described, enters at thebottom thereof', through connecting-piper, and in the other, q, a-t the top thereof through connecting pipe s. The retort q is divided into compartments't anda bye partition-plate, c, extending nearly to the bottom ofthe retort,

but leaving an opening, w, for communication between the two, into the smaller one, u, of

which the superheated steam is admitted, as

described. v

w a are pipes respectively leading from the top of the retorts p and q to the tar-main y, containing water, 82e., and, entering the same, extend nearly to the bottom, for a purpose to be hereinafter specified.

z is a pipe entering the smaller compartment, u, of retort q, through which liquid hydrocarbons are fed into the same, a suitable cock being used to regulate the amount thereof at pleasure. Having thus described the arrangement of the devices composing my apparatus, I will now proceed to describe the manner iu which the same vis operated either to form hydrogen alone or hydrocarbon gaseous vapors, or to produce oil .in conjunction therewith.

For the production of only hydrogen gas, the retortq isY used, the larger compartment of which I charge with wood, wood-charcoal, spent tan, coke, peat, or any other dry carbonaceous material, while into the smaller one the superheated steam is admitted.

For the production of hydrocarbon gases,the liquid hydrocarbon is fed in through pipe z in small quantities, and, mingling with the superheated steam, becomes vaporized, and the superheated steam and vapors thus formed then pass together into and up through the dry carbonaceous material in the larger compartment heated to a red heat. Thus the su perheated steam is decomposed'intoits elementary gases--hydrogen and oxygen--the oxygen of which is absorbed by the fixed carbon within larger the, compartment, t, which leaves the hydrogen to unite with the volatile hydrocarbon,

thereby giving the hydrogen its due quantity of carbon and make it into a rich illuminatinggas. The gas then passes through-theexitpipe w into the tar-main y, in the usual manner; but for 'the production of both oil and gas and other products the retort p is'used, the operation of which, after having been first charged with coal, shales, wood, Src., is as follows: .The super-heated steam passes into the retort at the bottom, diffusing itself through the mass therein while ascending, thus evapmunicating with each other, the purpose of whichis to retard thepassage of steam through the same, in order that it may be heated to a greater and sufficient degree of heat before reaching the retorts. These superheaters can be also cast in one piece, which is a great advantave a ertures c 0 &c. which are after-- Ward-closed with cast-iron plugs, being made at opposite ends of each chamber for remov- -ingfthe sand-core from the same.

It-will be observed by the foregoing description that from the'relative position of the'fsuperheaters, iiues, and retorts the most intense heat from the furnace is necessarily ,absorbed by the superheaters,l while the lesser and re- `maining heat passes around the retorts, thus insuringthat the internal temperature of the retorts shall always exceed that of the external i heat, so that the work of expelling the volatile products will be effected wholly by the superv heated steam, the external heat being only sufficient to prevent radiation. Having thus described my improvements, I shall state my claims as follows:

vil. So combining devices for superheating steam, flues for the passage of products Ofcom-h bustion, and a suitable retort or.. retorts'coutaining carbonaceous materials as to cause the internal heat, or that produced by the. superheated steam,- to always predominate over. the external heat and perform the work of extracting the liquid and volatile products from the retort or retorts without producing destructive distillation, substantially as described. 2. The doublechambered upright retort, arranged and voperating substantially as described, and for the purpose specied.

JOHN HOVARTH.

Vitnesses:

Josnrir GAYETT, ALBERT W. BROWN. 

